CME Calls on FCC for Meaningful DTV Rules

>CENTER FOR MEDIA EDUCATION>>>Contact:>(202) 331-7833>Ellen O'Brien - ext. 31>Amanda Hillman - ext. 32>>>CME Calls on FCC to Ensure DTV Rules on Children Are Meaningful>FCC Meeting Considers Broadcasters Public Interest Obligations to Children>>>Washington, DC -- The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is meeting>tomorrow to consider a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on "Children's>Television Obligations of Digital Television Broadcasters." The Commission>is expected to recommend new requirements for digital broadcasters to serve>children's educational needs, as well as safeguards tailored to protect>children from exploitative and manipulative advertising practices in>interactive television. The Center for Media Education (CME) filed comments>earlier this year, calling for new children's guidelines in digital>television.>> "Digital technology will enable television broadcasters to do much more to>serve children's education and informational needs," said Kathryn>Montgomery, Ph.D., president of CME. "We look to the FCC to provide clear>guidelines for digital broadcasters to ensure that children are not>shortchanged. We believe it is important to create a framework for serving>children now at the beginning of the digital era, and to build into the>foundation of digital television the necessary safeguards for protecting>children from advertising and marketing abuses.">>CME, along with a coalition of child advocacy, education, and health groups,>has asked the FCC to issue guidelines to ensure that digital broadcasters>use the innovative features of this new technology to serve children's>educational and informational needs, under the mandate of the Children's>Television Act (CTA). Rather than simply offering more programming,>broadcasters would be urged to:>... Air additional "core" Educational/Informational (E/I) programming.>... Provide broadband or datacasting services to local schools, libraries or>community centers that serve children.>... Support the production of children's educational programming by local>public stations or other noncommercial program producers.>>"There is immense potential for broadcasters to use the new digital>technology to exert a positive influence on the lives of young people," said>Montgomery. "We look to them to take advantage of this opportunity to create>a rich media environment for children by providing more educational and>informational programming and services.">>The groups have also urged the Commission develop effective safeguards to>protect children from new forms of advertising in digital television.>"Digital technology will usher in an entirely new set of interactive>advertising, marketing and data collection practices," explained Montgomery.>"We want to make sure advertisers don't use digital television to link>children to marketing Web sites." In comments filed with the FCC in March in>response to an NPRM on public interest obligations on DTV, CME and others>asked the FCC to:>... Update the current rules and policies regarding advertising to children>to ensure they are applied on all DTV program services.>... Prohibit links to advertising or sales on Web sites or online services>that are accessible during children's programming.>... Apply the principles of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act>(COPPA) to DTV broadcasters collecting information from children.>>"Broadcasters have a civic responsibility to harness the power of this new>interactive medium to truly benefit children" said Montgomery. "This week's>scathing report from the FTC further underscores the need for all the media>industries to serve children better.">>Calling the FCC's discussion of public interest obligations for children an>important first step, Montgomery emphasized that there must be requirements>for broadcasters to serve the public interest needs of all citizens. She>cited providing free political time for political candidates as particularly>important. "Our political discourse in this country has deteriorated>significantly in recent years," she explained. "The rise of negative>political advertising, the pervasiveness of 'sound-bite' journalism, the>proliferation of 'infotainment,' and the demise of serious public affairs>programming have all contributed to a media culture that fosters cynicism>and alienation among many citizens and is having a profound impact on youth.>With voter participation among young people at a record low, the public>should be demanding that broadcasters contribute to a healthier democratic>process, instead of just reaping profits from political advertising.">>Another issue on the FCC's agenda is the extension of the filing requirement>for children's television programming reports (FCC Form 398). The reports>help the public and the FCC to know how broadcasters are meeting their>obligation to serve the educational and informational needs of children as>established by the 1990 Children's Television Act (CTA). Comments filed in>June by CME and 15 other groups called for broadcasters to report on>children's programming more frequently and to make these reports and related>information more readily available to the public. CME said, these reports>are essential both for parental awareness of children's educational>programming and the FCC's enforcement of its children's programming rules.>"We are looking to the FCC to implement the recommendations in our>comments," said Montgomery:>... Require broadcasters to electronically file their children's television>Educational/Informational (E/I) programming reports with the FCC on a>quarterly rather than an annual basis.>... Seek and provide more detailed information about how the broadcasters>are fulfilling existing rules, such as which program guide publishers are>provided with programming information, whether the publisher prints the>information, and what efforts broadcasters are making to publicize the>existence and location of their reports.>... Require broadcast licensees to post their quarterly programming reports>on their Web sites to increase the accessibility of this information to>parents and the public.>... Add a permanent, clearly identifiable link to the children's television>page on the FCC's home page.>>(The comments submitted to the FCC and CME's statement on the FTC report are>available at www.cme.org under press releases.)>>The Center for Media Education (CME) is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan>organization dedicated to creating a quality electronic media culture for>children, their families, and the community. CME's four-year national>campaign led to the 1996 Federal Communications Rule requiring a weekly>minimum of three hours of educational television programming. CME's report>"Web of Deception" (1996) first drew attention to potentially harmful>marketing and data-collection practices targeted at children on the Internet>and laid the groundwork for the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act>(COPPA).>>_______________________________________________________________________>Ellen O'Brien eobrien@CME.org>Communications Director http://www.CME.org>Center for Media Education (CME)>2120 L St., NW, Suite 200 202/331-7833, ext. 31>Washington, DC 20037 fax: 202/331-7841>>*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*>>To subscribe to the Benton Communications-Related Headlines,>send email to: listserv@cdinet.com>In the body of the message, type only:>subscribe benton-compolicy YourFirstName YourLastName>>To unsubscribe, send email to:>listserv@cdinet.com>In the body of the message, type only:>signoff benton-compolicy>>If you have any problems with the service, please direct them to>benton@benton.org>>
Gary Handman
Director
Media Resources Center
Moffitt Library
UC Berkeley 94720-6000http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC